LITTLE MILLET

Siridhanya refers to the five positive millets - foxtail, little, kodo, barnyard and browntop - eaten unpolished. Little millet is the usual starting point because it cooks and tastes closest to rice, so nothing about your cooking has to change.

Unpolished millets cook better soaked for six to eight hours, or at minimum thirty minutes. Soaking softens the bran, shortens cooking and makes them easier to digest. Discard the soaking water and rinse before cooking.

Polishing abrades the bran off to make the grain whiter and quicker to cook. It also removes most of the fibre and a good part of the minerals. Unpolished millet looks duller and takes slightly longer, which is the trade.

Like rice, with a little more water - roughly one part millet to two and a half parts water - for about fifteen minutes after soaking. It should be fluffy, not sticky.

The bran carries oil, and that oil eventually oxidises, exactly as with wholegrain flour. Four to six months is realistic; polished grain keeps longer precisely because the bran is gone.

Millets are naturally gluten free. They are cleaned and hulled on equipment also used for other grains, so tell us if you need a coeliac-safe run.

Yes. Soak overnight, drain, and keep damp in a covered container for a day or so until small shoots appear. Sprouted millet cooks faster and many people find it easier to digest.

It is sold unpolished, with the bran left on, and cleaned and sorted in small batches. Most millet on sale is polished to look whiter and cook faster, which takes most of the fibre and minerals with it.